Pokethropy
by Cydra
Summary: During May's journey through Johto, Max is bitten by a cursed Mightyena. Now May must find a cure before the curse completely consumes Max. Transformation/were-pokemonism fic.
1. The Match

**Pokethropy**

**Chapter 1: The Match**

While Ash and his friends traveled the region of Sinnoh, another traveler was having a Pokemon journey of her own. After their Contest Battle at Terracotta Town, May took a ferry to the Johto region to compete in the contests there. After registering at New Bark Town, May quickly traveled to Cherrygrove City to compete in the contest. She managed to win with her Squirtle and Blaziken participating the Appeal Round and the Battle Round respectively. Currently, she was heading towards Goldenrod City to compete at a Contest there. But first, she decided to do some sightseeing at the neighboring city of Ecruteak.

May was walking through the city gates, looking at her Cherrygrove ribbon with pride. 'After that, Goldenrod should be a sinch. Then it's off to Olivine,' she thought. She put the ribbon away and looked around. Ecruteak's buildings were of an older style than most of the cities she's been in. "Wow, I wonder where I should go first," she said. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her guide to Johto. She wasn't as good with guides as Brock, but she was able to get this far with minor assistance. She scanned through what it said about Ecruteak City and noticed what it said about the Kimono Dance Theater. "Ooh, that sounds exciting. I might be able to pick up a few pointers while I'm there." She studied how far it was from the city gates to the theater and started walking in the direction indicated.

Eventually, May found her way to the Kimono Theater. It was a rather impressive place that matched the city's old-styled fashion. As she headed towards the doors, she noticed two people waving at her. She didn't recognize the younger girl with magenta hair, but she instantly knew the other. "Max! What are you doing here?"

"Dad was going to talk with the Gym Leader here about something and since I knew that you'd be in the area, I thought I'd tag along to see if I'll meet you. Guess I was right."

The girl beside him bowed respectively and said, "We're very honored to have you here, May. My name's Sakura, I'm one of the five Kimono Sisters."

"Really?" said May, "I came to watch the dancing here."

"Then come on in, we've heard so much about you."

May followed Sakura inside, after giving Max a friendly punch in the shoulder.

The inside was well decorated for kabuki dancing. Sakura's four older sisters were waiting for her. As long as May was staying here, she let out her Pokemon for some fresh air. Blaziken sat on a mat and meditated peacefully. Squirtle was fascinated by the bright directions and was continually wandering around. Munchlax simply ate the refreshments offered and then went to sleep. Bulbasaur and Beautifly sniffed all the flower arrangements. Eevee curled up on May's lap. The Kimono Sisters were very interested in him. "So, do you know what you're going to evolve him into?" asked Koume.

"Not really," said May, "I'm just happy with him as he is right now."

"Sakura was just the same way, before Espion evolved," said Tamao.

"I've heard that there are two parts in Sinnoh where Eevee can evolve into different evolutions," said Satsuki.

"Really?" said May, "I might go there at some point."

Sumomo smiled and said, "If you really want to get there, you'll have to prove you're tough enough. How about a one-on-one battle before we get dinner ready?"

"Bring it on!" said May.

The seven of them went outside. Sumomo stood with her Vaporeon at one side of the yard. May decided to use her Bulbasaur for a type advantage. "This battle will be a one-on-one between May and Sumomo. Their Pokemon will battle until one of them is unable to battle," announced Max. The two trainers and their Pokemon stared at each other fiercely until Max called, "Begin!"

"Vaporeon, use Mist!" called Sumomo. Vaporeon blew a mist that covered the area.

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf to blow it away!" called May. Bulbasaur shook the bulb on its back and razor-edged leaves sprung out and flew forward. The wind they created caused the mist to disperse.

"Vaporeon, Water Gun!" Vaporeon spat out a stream of water that hit Bulbasaur in the face.  
"Use Vine Whip!" Vines extended from Bulbasaur's bulb and smacked Vaporeon in the face.

"Use Bubblebeam!" Vaporeon opened her mouth and rapidly shot out bubbles that popped on Bulbasaur, inflicting minor damage.

"Petal Dance!" Bulbasaur moved her body around and pink petals came from her bulb. Another gesture and the petals flew straight at Vaporeon. Vaporeon tried to find a way out, but the petals surrounded her and hit her. After being struck several times, Vaporeon collapsed on the ground, her eyes replaced by spirals.

"Vaporeon is no longer able to battle! The winner is May!" declared Max.

"Good job, Bulbasaur!" said May.

Bulbasaur nodded her head and said, "Bulbasaur." Suddenly her body was covered with white light. Everyone watched in surprise as Bulbasaur's shape grew larger and the bulb changed shape. When the light faded, her body was a bit larger, her teeth had gotten sharper, and the bulb had grown into a flower bud with leaves around the base. "Ivysaur."

"It evolved into Ivysaur," said Max in amazement. May checked her Pokedex about Ivysaur.

Ivysaur: The Seed Pokemon. The evolved form of Bulbasaur, the pod on its back has grown larger, allowing it to perform more attacks. Its bud will slowly open as it gains maturity.

"Wow, this is great!" said May. "I bet I can win even more contests now!"

"Ivy," intoned Ivysaur in agreement.

"Let's go inside and have some dinner to celebrate," said Sakura, which everyone agreed to.

Dinner was quickly prepared in a traditional style. May found it quite delicious as well as her Pokemon. It was hard to tell with Munchlax as he ate up his portion at the same rate as all his food, and he took several helpings before he felt sated. Fortunately, Munchlax's appetite had been considered before and extra food was prepared so everyone got enough to eat. While they ate, the girls gossiped a lot while the Pokemon appeared to have conversations. Ivysaur's personality didn't seem to change much after evolution, aside from seeming a bit more mature.

Max, however, was quieter than the rest. He was occasionally looking between the gossiping girls and the happy Pokemon. 'Everyone here has a Pokemon besides me. They get to go to all sorts of places to have battles. I can't do that because I'm not 10 yet. I wish I had my own Pokemon. I wish I was old enough to go on a journey by myself,' he thought. Little did Max realize that both of his wishes will be answered in a way he would have never imagined.

* * *

And there's the first chapter. This is my first time in writing a Pokefic so be easy on me. I hope I'm being faithful to the anime as I'm writing this. Anyways, I'm planning on updating this fic every four days this month for Halloween. So check this fic again on the 5th as the chapter I'm putting up then is where the excitement gets started. Please review.


	2. The Bite

**Pokethropy**

**Chapter 2: The Bite**

Later that night, the seven of them were waiting for Norman to get back. "I don't it should take too long," said Max, "Should be just standard Gym Leader stuff I'm sure."

Espeon, who had been sleeping, suddenly woke up and looked around. "What's wrong, Espeon?" asked Sakura. Espeon waved her ears and twitched her tail.

Suddenly a Haunter floated through the open window. The kids screamed in surprise. The Haunter merely chuckled and handed a letter to May before floating out the window again. May opened the letter and read, "'Dear Max and May, sorry this is taking so long. But Morty needed my help with something. Apparently there are two Pokemon who have an ability to hit Ghost Pokemon without using Foresight. Since they are both Normal-type, he wanted my expertise to study how this ability works. We'll be back in a few days. Love, Dad.'"

Max seemed annoyed by the news. "He could have asked me to come. I'd probably be able to share some insight."

"You're too young, Max," said May, "You could get hurt."

This seemed to annoy Max even more. "Well, if I'm going to spend the next few days with all you girls, I'm going to need some fresh air." He got up and headed towards the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he said as he walked outside.

"Be careful near the woods," called Tamao, "It gets spooky this time of night."

Max wandered around, not truly paying attention to where he was going. His meandering eventually brought him to the edge of the woods. "I'm too young to do anything," he muttered, "How can I become a great trainer if I don't get a chance at anything. I'd give anything to get a real Pokemon adventure of my own." He looked up at the full moon and said, "Too bad Jirachi isn't here to grant my wish."

Suddenly a rustling sound caught his ear. He turned his head and saw that it was coming from the bushes. "Hello? Is someone there?" he asked. Suddenly something leaped out of the undergrowth and landed in front of him. Max saw that it was a Mightyena, but this one looked fiercer than any other Mightyena he'd ever seen. Sure, there were the Mightyena that belong to Teams Aqua and Magma, but this one had a dangerous light in its eye. And it didn't make Max feel any better that it was growling at him savagely. Max backed away slowly. "Nice boy," he said, "Easy there. You wouldn't want to hurt me. I'm just a kid." The Mightyena snarled, and as it did, Max noticed that a scar on the backside of its right ear. Max walked backwards until he bumped against the wall of a building. He looked at the Mightyena and saw that it was going to pounce. Max only had enough to scream "HELP!" before it lunged at him.

The Mightyena sank its fangs into Max's left leg. Max cried out as he felt his skin be penetrated by the sharp teeth. In this instance, Mightyena's classification as the Bite Pokemon matched perfectly. Max kept screaming, sure that the Mightyena was going to tear apart the rest of him.

Suddenly he heard someone call, "Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!" There was a flash of fiery light and the Mightyena was thrown off of Max. Max looked up and saw that Blaziken was standing over him. Then he saw that May was running up and called out, "Now use Fire Punch!" Blaziken's wrists had already been flaming, now the flames spread over the rest of its hands. It then ran at the Mightyena and punched it in the side. The Mightyena flew over a considerable distance and landed with a thud. The Mightyena got up slowly and growled at the three of them. Then it ran off into the bushes.

May's attention immediately focused on Max. "Are you okay?" she asked. "I'm fine, but it bit my leg," he said. May looked around for something to tie up Max's wound, but she couldn't find anything. So she took her bandana off and wrapped it around Max's leg. "Don't worry, I've got plenty more of them," she said, "Blaziken, pick Max up. We need to get him to the Pokemon Center." Blaziken nodded and gingerly picked Max, carefully not to put any pressure on the wounded leg. Then May and Blaziken started running towards Ecruteak's Pokemon Center. And up above, the full moon shone with an eerie light.

May and Blaziken headed straight for the Pokemon Center. Fortunately, the Nurse Joy there was acquainted with Pokemon bites on humans and was able to clean and bind up Max's wound. However, Max would have to spend the night there so he could be taken care of if the wound showed signs of infection. Seeing as there was nothing more they could do, May and Blaziken headed back to the Kimono Theater. Little did they know that Max had been infected in a way they would have never guessed.

* * *

There's the second chapter. I know this story's not going fast, but this chapter sets the plot for the rest of the story. It's definitly worth checking out the next time it updates, which should be on Thursday. Until then, please review.


	3. The Curse Begins

**Pokethropy**

**Chapter 3: The Curse Begins**

First thing in the morning after breakfast, May headed to the Pokemon Center. She immediately went up to the room where Max was put in. She opened the door and much to her surprise, Max was sitting up, looking well-rested. "Good morning May," he said cheerfully.

"You're up already?" said May? "Aren't you feeling tired?"

"Nope, why should I?"

"Well, the bite on your leg caused you to pass out last night. I'd think you would stay in bed for a while."

"Actually, my bite doesn't hurt at all. In fact, I feel better than before," said Max, flexing his shoulders a bit.

Just then, Nurse Joy came in and said, "Oh, you're awake. Well, I'm going to change those bandages now." She knelt by Max's bed and cut the bandages with a pair of scissors. She unwrapped it and said, "Looks like we'll have to do some cleaning." Her Chansey was standing beside her with a washbasin with a towel in it. Nurse Joy took the towel and wiped away the dried blood from Max's leg. She looked suddenly puzzled and said, "Well that's strange. This wound has healed a lot faster than I would have thought. I thought it might require stitches, but it looks like it's healing on its own."

"Then I can leave?" asked Max. Nurse Joy nodded hesitatingly. "Great! Race you to the Kimono Theater, May!" Max jumped out of bed and ran out the door. May wasn't positive, but she swore that Max's hair looked longer.

At the Kimono Theater, Max ate rather rapidly. The Kimono Girls were somewhat disturbed by his now voracious appetite. "Shouldn't you slow down?" asked Sakura, "You'll be able to experience the flavor more."

"Right now, I just want to fill my belly," said Max as he cleaned his teeth with his nail. May didn't like this, she never saw Max eat this way and he definitely wouldn't picked his teeth that way.

Then Munchlax waddled in with a large bowl full of Pokemon chow and Pokeblocks. He sat down at the table, not paying attention to the large amount of dishes piled around Max's side. He placed the bowl on the table and tied a napkin around his neck. But before Munchlax could swallow one bit, Max reached over and started wolfing it down. Everyone watched in surprise, and in Munchlax's case, heartbreaking horror, as Max cleaned out the bowl of all its contents. Munchlax looked numbly at the empty bowl that had previously held his second breakfast.

"Max!" yelled May, "You had no right or reason to eat that food! First off, it was Pokemon food and you're not supposed to eat it. Second off, that was Munchlax's and-"

May was cut off when Munchlax started yelling at Max. Of course, it all came out as "Munchlax! Munch munch lax munchlax munch! Lax munch munchlax!" but the implement was very clear.

Max didn't look all that sorry. "You would have not have gone hungry until lunchtime. Besides, you couldn't have possibly eaten all that food by yourself." Munchlax looked surprised for a second and then waddled off in a huff. "Well, I've had my fill. I'm going to get changed and then go explore the city." He headed towards his own room. May was rather astonished, but she couldn't help but think that something was different about Max's eyes behind his glasses.

May and Max went to go sightseeing that day. Max was full of energy and May often had trouble keeping up with him. They looked all the tourist attractions, with the Burned Tower being the last. When they went to the Burned Tower, May marveled at it and wondered what it looked like before it was set on fire. Suddenly several eyes appeared among the torched beams. May freaked out for a minute, but it turned out to just be curious Gastly and Haunter. The Ghost Pokemon floated about May for a while, but then they noticed Max. They all suddenly seemed disturbed about something and they quickly floated through the walls. As they left the ruined building, May was even more troubled. 'What could unnerve Ghost Pokemon like that?' she thought.

Meanwhile, Munchlax was making some discoveries of his own. After May and Max left, he went to Max's room. He sniffed around, intent on finding something to eat. He was rather miffed at Max for eating his food, even if it was his second breakfast. But he was somewhat puzzled about something. Max somehow knew he mentioned about going hungry until lunchtime during his tirade, almost as if he could understand him. Munchlax shook his head; that was nonsense, he wasn't Meowth, humans can't understand him.

Then he found the clothes Max was wearing at the Pokemon Center last night. He searched the pockets, hoping that it might have some tasty snacks inside. But as he was doing so, he noticed something odd. There were grey and black hairs on the shirt front. Munchlax thought that the black hair might have come from Max's head, but where'd the grey hair come from? He picked up a couple of hairs and sniffed them. To his surprise, his strong sense of smell identified it as Pokemon hair. Munchlax sniffed the black hairs and saw that they were Pokemon hairs too. Munchlax wasn't sure what kind of Pokemon hair it was, but it smelt familiar. He left the room, taking the clothes with him. He'll want to show these to May at some point, but right now, he wanted something to eat.

May and Max returned in the late in the afternoon. The sun was setting when they went into the Kimono Theater. As they walked in, Max yawned. "I think I'll be hitting the hay," he said. This was really surprising. "It's only 7:15. I'd thought with your energy that you'd be up till midnight." "Well, early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise." As Max headed towards his room, May said to herself, "This isn't right at all. This isn't what Max would normally be like. It must have something to do with that Mightyena. I'll have to look tomorrow it anyone knows about it. Once again, May's expeditions set off on yet another mysterious journey behind what caused my little and not to mention glutton brother to behave abnormally."

* * *

There's another chapter. Poor Munchlax, almost makes you feel sorry for him, doesn't it. But things are getting pretty weird now, but this is nothing compared to what's going to be in the next chapter, which will appear on Monday. Stay tuned and please review.


	4. The Revelation

**Pokethropy**

**Chapter 4: The Revelation**

May slept until morning. Not long after the sun came up, she woke up and yawned. 'Here's the first day of investigation,' she thought. She quickly changed into her traveling clothes and went to get breakfast. To her surprise, Max was already there and eating his breakfast. Max briefly turned to her to say, "Morning May," and then went back to his eating. May was unsettled by his abruptness as well as he was eating just meat. Then another thing occurred to her. Max was taller-looking than last night. No, not just taller, older. He looked like he couldn't be much younger than her. His hair was also longer, almost touching his shoulders. "Max," she said, "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay," said Max, "I'm better than okay. I feel great." He quickly finished the last bit of his breakfast and stood up. May saw that he was only half a head shorter than her. He was wearing his normal clothes, but they looked tighter on him.

"You look different," said May.

"Guess I had a growth spurt last night," said Max shrugging, causing his shirt to strain a bit. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Well, I thought I'd call Professor Oak today. I want to ask him something."

Then, to May's great astonishment, Max moaned and said, "That's boring. I was hoping we'd do something exciting today."

"But, I thought Professor Oak was your idol," said May, scarcely believing it.

"Well he may know a lot, but he doesn't really do much," said Max, "Not like Professor Birch, he actually gets out into the wild to his research. That's what I like about him, a real outdoorsman."

"Oookay, in that case, how about after I call him, we go find someone to battle."

"Now that sounds like fun," said Max energetically.

May was pretty disturbed by this. This is nearly the opposite of Max's normal personality. 'I hope Professor Oak might have an answer for this,' she thought.

"What do you mean you don't have an answer for this?!" exclaimed May over the videophone.

"I'm sorry, May," said Professor Oak, "but I don't have any data regarding extended effects of Pokemon bites on humans. With most Pokemon, it's simply some swelling and soreness, unless it's a Poison-type in which the case may be more serious. But Mightyena's a Dark-type and shouldn't have any more of an effect on Max, so I don't believe that's the cause of this."

"But Max is not acting like himself at all, he's being rude, aggressive, and he ate all of Munchlax's food, which along with being rude and aggressive is pretty disgusting. Not to mention he's taller than before."

"Well, Max is a growing boy and you can't expect him to remain the same forever. I'll try to see if there's anything unusual about Mightyena, but other than that, all I can tell you is to keep him from eating Pokemon food. That's not the kind he needs right now." Then Professor Oak hanged up.

May sighed, "Now what am I going to do? I don't care what the Professor says, this isn't natural. There's got to be an explanation for this."

Max was waiting impatiently for her. "It's about time, are we going to do some battles today or what?" he said.

"I guess so," said May in a disappointed tone.

"You'll hard-pressed to find someone to battle today," said a voice.

They turned around to see an older boy. Judging by his traveling clothes, he must be a Pokemon trainer.

"What do you mean?" asked May.

"Haven't you heard? Most of the local trainers' Pokemon are recovering in the Pokemon center right now. You'll be lucky to be battling a Magikarp."

"Why? What happened to them?" asked Max.

"Can you tell us?" asked May.

"Oh, I can tell you alright, because the same thing happened to me. I was training with my Machop last night when we saw this wild Poochyena. Since Fighting-types are strong against Dark-types, I decided to battle it. But this Poochyena was pretty vicious; it wouldn't back down even if its hit, didn't seem to take as much damage either. So then I thought I'd catch it since it was so strong. But then the weirdest thing happened."

"What?" asked Max.

"It didn't work at all. I threw the Pokeball, but it didn't respond at all. I might as well have thrown it at a tree. And then that Poochyena started attacking nonstop until it beated my Machop. Then it howled and left. From what I've heard, the same thing's been happening to everyone. They battle this wild Poochyena that's impervious to Pokeballs and get beaten by it. There's scarcely a conscious Pokemon in town, and the conscious ones are becoming afraid to go out after dark."

"After dark?" asked May.

"Apparently this Poochyena only shows up at night. One guy said that it stopped battling when the moon was getting low, then it ran off. So like I said, good luck trying to find someone to battle," then the trainer turned around and walked away.

May looked thoughtful, "Hmm, Poochyena's the pre-evolved form of Mightyena. I wonder if this Poochyena has anything to do with the Mightyena that got Max?"

"So what are you waiting for?" said Max, "Let's find someone to battle."

"Okay, if you insist," said May, worried about Max's aggressiveness.

The two of them went all over town, but they couldn't find anyone to battle. They kept getting the same story: a Poochyena that's immune to Pokeballs has beaten up their Pokemon and they're in no condition to fight. When the siblings returned, it was the late afternoon and they didn't battle a single trainer.

"I don't believe it," muttered Max, "How could every last trainer be beaten by one wild Pokemon? It's not fair."

"May I remind you that it's my Pokemon that would be fighting, not yours," said May sharply. Max's foul attitude was really starting to get to her.

"Well, I would have taken them out sooner before all the action's gone. But all you care about is how pretty their moves are."

May finally snapped, "Max, you do not tell me how to raise my Pokemon! In case you've forgotten, I'm the older sibling here, even if you have grown a couple inches. And you're not getting any Pokemon until you're 10, so you don't need to keep telling me what you would do. And judging your attitude, you're going to be a pretty pathetic Pokemon trainer indeed!"

Max glared at May fiercely. May normally would have glared right back, but there was something about Max's eyes. They looked more feral-looking. After about a minute of glaring, he huffed and said, "I don't have to take this. You're not Mom."

As Max was walking away, May shouted, "Well if I was, I wouldn't tolerate that attitude of yours!"

"Well you're not, so deal with it!" responded Max as he went into his bedroom and slammed the door.

"Go to your room!" shouted May.

Max opened the door and shouted, "I'm already in my room!" and slammed the door again.

May reached for a pillow, picked it up, and screamed into until all the frustration went out. Then she took several deep calming breaths and said, "Okay, now that that's taken care of, I'm going to go out and see if I can find that Poochyena. Adventure doesn't just coming knocking on your door."

Munchlax was sitting nearby during all this and heard every word of it. He didn't like the sound of the argument so he tried to blot it out, but when May said 'Poochyena' something clicked in his brain, as if there was something about Poochyena that he remembered, something recent. He tried to think about it, but his stomach gurgled. So he went to the kitchen and gotten himself a 5-pound snack to eat. When he came back, May had already left. This didn't matter much to Munchlax until he finished his snack and was going to May's room to find his Pokeball to sleep in.

When he went into May's room, a strange scent hit his nostrils. He wandered over where the smell was coming from and found Max's clothes he had taken last night. Then he remembered he took them to show them to May but forgot about it when he got hungry. He looked at the grey and black hairs and suddenly it hit him: Poochyena hairs, those were Poockyena hairs on Max's clothing. But neither May nor the Kimono Sisters owned a Poochyena. Then Munchlax remembered May talking about a Poochyena and he realized he must take these clothes to May at once. He bundled them up and quickly carried them out the front door and down the street, searching for May.

Meanwhile, May was at the edge of the city, where that Mightyena bit Max. She looked around, but couldn't find anything. It was dusk, so the Poochyena should be out by now. Not quite sure how to bring out the Poochyena, she tried a direct challenge. "Alright, Poochyena!" she called, "If you want a fight, I've got some Pokemon to battle for you right here. If you've got any courage, you'll challenge me right now!"

Then she heard some growling and a Poochyena leapt out of the bushes. It didn't seem different from a regular Poochyena except it looked more ferocious. "Good, now it's time to take the stage. Eevee, come on out!" She threw the Pokeball containing Eevee and the Evolution Pokemon appeared in a flash of white light, "Eevee!"

"Okay, Eevee, let's start off with Tackle!" Eevee ran at the Poochyena and tackled it. Poochyena didn't seem to be hurt too bad and Tackled Eevee right back. Its Tackle seemed to have more power as Eevee looked a little tired after that.

"Okay then, try Shadow Ball!" said May. Eevee opened its mouth and a ball of crackling black energy appeared. It fired the ball at Poochyena, who was barely harmed, thanks to its type advantage. It shook off the affects of the attack and used Howl. Eevee paused, but it wasn't an attack directed at it, just something to boost Poochyena's attack power.

"Use Dig!" commanded May. Eevee quickly dug underground. Poochyena looked around apprehensively, trying to figure out where Eevee will pop up. Suddenly Eevee came up from under Poochyena and hit it.

Poochyena winced from the attack but then used Bite. Eevee squealed in pain as Poochyena gnawed at Eevee's tail. "Hey! Let go!" yelled May. Poochyena ignored her and remained clamped onto Eevee. May took out a Pokeball and said, "Alright, you asked for it!" She threw the Pokeball at Poochyena and made a direct hit. To her surprise, the Pokeball bounced off, without opening at all. However, it did have the affect of making Poochyena notice her. It growled and then spat out Eevee's tail to charge at May. May quickly picked up a stick that was on the ground and yelled, "Stop it!" She swung the stick at the Poochyena and swatted into a tree.

As May pondered what to do next, she heard a loud cry of "Munchlax!" She turned around and saw Munchlax racing towards her. "Munchlax, what are you doing here?" she asked. Munchlax paused to catch his breath but then handed over what it was holding to May.

May took it and saw that these were the clothes that Max was wearing when he was resting at the Pokemon Center. She also noticed grey and black hairs on these clothes. "Where'd this come from?" she asked. Munchlax grabbed a hair and pointed at the Poochyena.

May looked from the clothes she was holding to the Poochyena, who was starting to recover from hitting the tree. 'Could it really be possible?' she thought. Reason told her it was ludicrous, but logic told her it made sense. Max's aggression, his desire to battle, his appetite for Pokemon food, his feral looks, how he seemingly understood Munchlax combined with the Poochyena's viciousness and immunity to Pokeballs seemed to make sense. Not to mention how Max went to bed early and how the Poochyena only showed up at night. May looked at the Poochyena again, who was now on its feet and growling at her. She decided there was only one way to see if it could be true. "Max!" she called loudly.

The Poochyena's eyes dilated at the sound of Max's name. Suddenly, it started wincing with pain. Then, before May, Eevee, and Munchlax's eyes, the Poochyena started to grow. It was not evolving because there was no light around it, but its body was growing continually bigger. As it grew, its body began to change shape. Its front legs lengthened and its paws turned into hands. Its back legs remained about the same shape, but grew thicker, allowing it to stand on two legs. Its torso expanded until it was like a human's. Then its head started growing black-blue hair and its face shortened somewhat.

When it was done, the Poochyena now looked like it was half-human. It panted for a bit and then looked at May's face. "M-M-May." Tears filled May's eyes as she recognized the voice that came out of the muzzle. "Oh, Max!" she cried. She knelt by the creature that was her brother and embraced him. As she did, she noticed, with some horror, that he looked the same age that she was.

* * *

There's another chapter. Now we're actually seeing some transformation action. What exactly happened to Max? Why does he look older? Fine out in the next update which will be on Friday. Until then, please review.


	5. The Witch

**Pokethropy**

**Chapter 5: The Witch**

It took May and Max a considerable amount of time to calm down. Of course, that is understandable enough if you just found that you were, or are the sibling of, a humanoid Poochyena that looks older than they're supposed to be. May was mostly sobbing out of a mixture of pity, shock, and fear. Max was just plain shocked. Eevee and Munchlax were watching the entire time. They were just as shocked as the siblings, but they thought it would be both polite and prudent to not interfere right now.

When May stopped crying, she looked into Max's face and asked, "Max, what happened to you?"

"I don't know," said Max, his voice deeper than before, "The last thing I remember was going to bed. The next thing I knew, I'm kneeling in front of you, as a beast."

May hugged Max closely and said, "Don't say that. You might be taller and hairier, but you're not a beast. You're still my little brother. And we're going to find some way to help you. But first, we need to get out of here before someone sees you. I don't think people would take kindly to the way you look right now." Max nodded and they both stood up. May noticed that Max was taller than her by several inches, but that was mostly because of his extended legs. She took his hand-like paw and started leading him up the street, Eevee and Munchlax following after them.

Fortunately, the streets were deserted. The people were apparently too nervous to come out with the feral Poochyena running about. Little did they know that he was being led by his older sister and her Pokemon. And little did _they_ know that they were being followed themselves.

Max was the first to notice something. Perhaps it was because of his heightened senses, but he had an uneasy feeling they were being followed. He growled softly and looked about. The others, unnerved by this, looked around too. Everything seemed to be the same as before, but they were all getting an uncomfortable feeling. Suddenly the air felt like it dropped 10 degrees in temperature. As May shivered with the unexpected cold, she saw a flickering out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw that the shadows on the walls were moving in an irregular pattern. Suddenly the shadows parted and a figure leaped out of them, crying loudly. The four of them screamed and fell over backwards.

When May sat back up, she was the first to notice the laughing Pokemon. It was rolling on the ground, kicking his legs and clutching its belly in mirth. The creepy grin and pointed ears of the purple Pokemon scared May somewhat, but she was annoyed with the tears of laughter forming in its red eyes. She pulled out her Pokedex and checked it.

Gengar: The Shadow Pokemon. The evolved form of Haunter, on moonlit nights, it often scares people by controlling their shadows. When it does so, the air temperature drops by 10 degrees F.

"It's just a Ghost Pokemon," said May as she put away her Pokedex. Then an idea occurred to her; Ghost Pokemon and Dark Pokemon were both associated with nighttime, right? So maybe this Gengar might know what is wrong with Max. "Um, excuse me?" she said. The Gengar stopped its chuckling and gave her a somewhat confused look. Evidentially, it was used to be yelled at for its prank. "Um, do you think you can help my brother?" asked May, pointing at Max.

The Gengar looked at Max properly and suddenly looked very nervous. It started backing away from them. "No wait!" cried May. The Gengar paused and returned its attention to May. "You have to help us. We don't know what's wrong with him and we don't know who to turn to. Can you help Max at all?" The Gengar shook its head, no. May felt crestfallen but didn't give up, "Then is there someone you know of that can help?" The Gengar looked thoughtful for a minute then nodded his head. "Then you'll take us there?" Gengar frowned; apparently it was not intending to do so.

Munchlax had been watching during all this. When Gengar frowned, he got up and walked towards it. "Munchlax," he said. Gengar turned and looked at the Big Eater Pokemon. Munchlax spoke in Pokemon about how Max was important to them and why they needed to see someone about him. Gengar responded that it didn't like the idea of being near Max. When Munchlax asked why, Gengar didn't say anymore.

Munchlax thought of something. He searched around his fur until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a slightly hairy, but still edible, Pokeblock He cleaned the hair off and looked at it. He was saving it for later, but this was more important. He offered the Pokeblock to the larger Ghost Pokemon.

Gengar picked it up and looked at it critically before popping it in his mouth. After a few seconds of chewing, Gengar's face lit up. Apparently, this was the right kind of flavor for him. "Gengar!" he said happily and motioned his arm forward, indicating for them to follow him. May stopped long enough to hug Munchlax before the group started following the Shadow Pokemon.

Gengar lead them out into the woods, not showing the slightest bit of fear of the darkness. May, Eevee, and Munchlax were worried, but Max was more comfortable with it. May kept looking around, trying to keep an eye out for any Pokemon that might attack.

Suddenly Gengar motioned for them to stop. Not long afterwards, another Ghost Pokemon appeared. This one looked like it was wearing a cloak and a witch's hat. Three red gems were at the front of its waist. Yellow eyes with red irises looked out of a purple face over a W-shaped mouth. May pulled out her Pokedex to look up this Pokemon's identity.

Mismagius: The Magical Pokemon. The evolved form of Misdreavus, it can cause peculiar events with incantation-like cries. The meanings of these cries have yet to be determined.

The two Ghost Pokemon talked for a bit. Although May didn't understand what they were saying, they were obviously talking about Max. After a bit Mismagius nodded its head in a certain direction, indicating to follow it. The group followed Mismagius until they reached a clearing. Judging by the cauldron hanging over a campfire and the tent pitched over at the edge, this was evidentially someone's campsite. Mismagius floated over to the tent and tapped on the tarp.

A few moments later, a young woman came out of the tent. She was wearing a short dark blue dress with a pink belt that had a star-shaped, green tights, purple gloves, and dark blue boots. As soon as she was out of the tent, she put on a short black cape that also had a star-shaped clasp and a black witch's hat on her red-haired head. Then she turned to Mismagius and asked with a British accent, "What is it now, Mismagius? Unlike you and the other Pokemon, I prefer to sleep at night." Mismagius tilted its head towards May. The young woman turned and looked at May. "You look familiar," she said, "Have I seen you in a magazine?"

"Maybe," said May, "I heard they do a bunch of articles on Coordinators in Pokemon Weekly."

The young woman snapped her fingers and said, "Now I've got it! You're May, the daughter of Norman from Petalburg City's Gym." May nodded and the young woman continued, "I remember reading about you. It mentioned you traveled with Ash Ketchum."

"How do you know about Ash?" asked May.

"I met him before. Oh, where are my manners? I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Lily, I'm a Pokemon magician and this is my Mismagius." Mismagius nodded its head in greetings. Then Lily took a ball from her belt and said, "And here's my other assistant." She opened the ball and a Pokemon like a large raven with red tail feathers, white chest feathers, and a fedora-like crest appeared. May looked it up with her Pokedex.

Honchkrow: The Big Boss Pokemon. The evolved form of Murkrow, in the wild, Honchkrow are known to gather flocks of Murkrow under them. The Honchkrow provides leadership while it remains in its nest preening its feathers.

"It used to be a Murkrow before I used a Dusk Stone on it, like I did with Mismagius. They're very useful in assisting me with my spells," said Lily.

This caught May's attention instantly. "You know spells?" she said excitedly.  
"Yes I do," said Lily, "I have my family's spellbook right here. Of course, I had to send it back for refurnishing after some pages became smeared and now it's practically good as new."

"You're just what I need!" said May, "I need your help with my brother."

"Your brother?" asked Lily.

May noticed that Max had stayed at the edge of the clearing and hadn't entered the campsite. She motioned Max to come forward. With some reluctance, Max stepped out into the campfire's light. Lily gasped and Honchkrow suddenly looked very stern. "You had better tell me all you know about this," said Lily.

May quickly told Lily about the events of the past two days, with the Mightyena's bite and Max's odd behavior, then the tales of the wild Poochyena and Munchlax finding Pokemon hair on Max's clothes, finishing with Max's transformation. "Then after that, a Gengar lead us here so you could help us."

Lily looked very grim. "I heard of something like this, but I thought it was only folklore. I believe there's a section about it in here somewhere…" She flipped through her spellbook until she found what she was looking for. "Here it is. It seems your brother has become afflicted with Pokethropy."

"Pokethropy?" asked Max.

"Were-Pokemonism as it's sometimes called. In other words, you're a Were-Poochyena. That Mightyena that bit you must have been cursed and you received the curse when it bit you."

"What do you mean cursed?" asked May.

"Legend tells of some curses laid upon unfortunate people by either evil witches and wizards or by Darkrai. The former because of spite and the latter as some form of retribution. Those afflicted with the curse become a vicious battle-seeking Pokemon at night. These Pokemon can spread their curse to other humans by biting them."

"So the Mightyena that bit me was some guy?" asked Max.

"Not likely," said Lily, "it says that the curse grows stronger with each battle won. At some point, the human inside would be lost forever to the curse's savage nature and they would become a Pokemon forever."

May looked mortified, "I can't let that happen to Max, he's my little brother!"

"Your little brother?" asked Lily, looking at Max. May followed her gaze and realized Max didn't seem that 'little' anymore.

"Well, he used to be before he got bitten. Why does he look older?"

"I think I might know," said Lily, "It said children who were afflicted are more interested in battling than adults."

"Why?"

"Leveling-up, apparently. How old was Max before?"

"I'm eight," said Max, "or at least I was."

"Well, if my guess is right, your physical age and your experience level are connected. When the curse started, Max was eight, so he became a Poochyena that was Level 8. As he leveled-up in battle, his physical age accelerated to match his experience level. And since you said he used Bite on Eevee, I'd say that he's at least 13."

May was shocked by this. Not only was Max becoming a bloodthirsty monster, but he was now older than her, if only by a few years.

"So why should that matter?" asked Max.

"From what I've heard, in the cases of pre-evolved Pokemon, those cursed to become them will try to level up until they reach the stage of evolution. Afterwards, the curse will have complete control over them. So Max will feel the urge to battle until he reaches the level that normal Poochyena evolve on: Level 18."

May stood up from her seat and said firmly, "I will not allow it. I won't let this curse take away Max's entire childhood, let alone turn him into a beast." Max looked touched by his sister's devotion, if slightly annoyed with the 'childhood-skipping' thing.

Lily smiled and said, "However, the book does mention a way to deal with it."

"How do we do that?" asked May.

"We need to create a special Pokeball, a Moon Ball. It says that if we capture Max with it, it'll conquer the curse. However, there are four ingredients that I don't have."

"What are they?"

"First, we need a Yellow Apricorn to make the Moon Ball with. Among other things, we'll need the juice from an Aconite Berry and the dust from a Lunatone. And the most important ingredient is a hair from the Mightyena that bit Max."

May looked excited up to the part where they mentioned the hair. She looked disappointed at that. "Well that's just great," she said, "How do we even know which Mightyena bit Max?"

"It had a scar on the backside of its right ear," said Max.

"Are you sure?" asked Lily.

Max gave her a long look and said, "I was attacked by a Mightyena in the middle of the night with no one around. I don't think I could forget it that easily."

"Point taken," said Lily, "I suggest we wait until daybreak before we start, so that Max will be in human form. I don't think it would be a good idea if people accidentally spotted him like this." After the two siblings agreed, Lily then added, "And do you know a place we could sleep? Camping's fine, but I would prefer to sleep on a mattress for once."

"Well," said May, "I suppose that the Kimono Sisters could let us stay at their house, but Max will have to come back in through the window. I just hope that he'll be small enough to do that."

After their various Pokemon were recalled, the group returned to the Dance Theater. While May and Lily distracted the dancer siblings, Max sneaked around the back. He found the window that led to the room he was sleeping in. It was several feet off the ground, but thanks to his new height and legs, jumping up there was no problem. Squeezing through was another matter. As Max clawed for a purchase, he muttered, "Why couldn't have I been bitten by a cursed Linoone?" Suddenly he felt a boost from behind and he got through the window. Max looked back and saw Gengar floating outside. "Thanks," said Max. Gengar responded with 'Gengar', which Max recognized as meaning 'You're welcome'. Gengar then floated away while Max curled up in bed. He closed his half-Pokemon eyes, hoping that things would be back to normal soon.

* * *

There's another chapter. Now we see what is happening to Max. Not to mention we have the guest appearance of that witch who's particularly well-known in the transformation community, Lily. (The reason for that, for those who don't watch the show that often, is because she temporarily transformed Ash into a Pikachu. You don't get forgotten after that.) Well, the search for the ingredients for the treatment starts in the next chapter, which should be up on Tuesday. Please review.


	6. The Ingredients

**Pokethropy**

**Chapter 6: The Ingredients**

The search for the ingredients didn't start at daybreak as planned. It turned out that the Yellow Apricorn had to be plucked under moonlight and Lunatone are nocturnal, so they had to do it by night. Besides, Max has outgrown all of his clothing. There wasn't even any torn clothing as he shrank when he transformed before and wriggled out of his clothing to go hunting. So Max had to stay in his room all day, pretending he had a bug. However, it did give Lily time to prepare the other ingredients they already have. That way she wouldn't need more than a few minutes to complete the Moon Ball when they had the other ingredients.

Eventually, nightfall came and the trio was ready to look for the ingredients. However, Max had turned back into a Poochyena and had to be found again. By the time they did find him, he had defeated enough Pokemon to go up to Level 15. But they did manage to get him to change back to his half-human form before he did anything more. However, he was much taller and older-looking than before. He also had a noticeable amount of muscle mass on his body. As soon as Max had gotten control over himself, they headed for where a Yellow Apricorn tree is known to grow: at the base of Mt. Mortar.

Fortunately, Mt. Mortar wasn't that far away from Ecruteak City and it only took them half an hour to get there. May looked up at the mortar-shaped peak with a rock jetting out like a pestle. Small wonder how the mountain got its name. But that wasn't important right now. What was important was finding the Apricorn tree and a Lunatone. The latter part wasn't going to be easy, but Lily knew where the tree grew.

However, the tree grew on the other side of a large river. Unfortunately, neither girl had a Flying or Water Pokemon large or strong enough to carry them both across.

"Well, I didn't foresee this coming," said Lily, "Think we can swim across?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to swim across a river like this when we don't what lives in it. Besides, we don't have any swimming suits."

Max, however, was thinking of a different way across. His half-Poochyena form gave him senses above that of a normal human. He looked at the river until he spotted what he thought were the shallowest parts in the middle. Then he walked over to some rocks near the mountain base. "I hope these muscles aren't just for show," he muttered as he grabbed a large rock and heaved.

It lifted up without much resistance. Clearly Max's hybrid muscles were capable of more feats of strength that a human's muscles of the same size. He walked back over to the riverbank and threw the rock at a shallow part. There was a large splash that threw water everywhere. But when it cleared, a stepping stone could be seen in the river.

May quickly got Max's idea and let out Blaziken so it could help. Blaziken was understandably confused about Max's form, but quickly got over it after it was explained and assisted Max with creating a series of stepping stones across the river. The stones were too far apart for a human to jump to, but not for a Pokemon with sufficient leg strength. Blaziken grabbed May while Max grabbed Lily and the two of them leapt across the rocks to the other side of the river. "Nice idea, Max," said May.

"That was pretty clever," said Lily.

Max flexed his muscles and said, "As long as I have this body, I might as well make the most use of it."

On the other side of the river were three Apricorn trees. They walked past a tree that had Green Apricorns growing on it as well as one with Pink Apricorns hanging from its branches. Then they saw the Yellow Apricorns, just ready for picking. Lily looked at the different Apricorns until she found one that was the right size. Blaziken leaped up and picked it. It handed the yellow nut over to Lily. "Perfect," said Lily, "now we need to find a Lunatone, an Aconite Berry, and that Mightyena."

Suddenly Max's ears perked up. He turned around and sniffed the air. "What is it?" asked May.

"I smell a Pokemon," he said, "and it's nearby."

"What kind?" asked Lily.

"Definitely a Rock Type," he said.

Then a Pokemon drifted across the grove, not truly paying attention to any of them. From the side, it was the shape of a crescent moon except for its beak. It had a black spot on either side of its body with a red eye in the center. "There it is!" said May as she checked her Pokedex.

Lunatone: The Meteorite Pokemon. Lunatone are believed originally come from meteorites that have landed on earth 40 years ago. They feed on moonlight to allow them to both levitate and use psychic powers.

"Right," said Lily, "we just need to get some dust from it. Shouldn't be too-"

Lily was interrupted when Max ran right past her towards the Lunatone. "Max! What are you doing!" cried May. Max didn't seem to hear her, his feral eyes were locked on the Lunatone. The Lunatone didn't even have time to turn around before Max Tackled it.

The Lunatone was thrown in the ground and skidded along the grass for a few seconds. Then it floated up, looking quite angry. Max didn't seem to care, he was constantly growling at the Lunatone. Then Lunatone's started glowing blue and the same glow surrounded Max. Max, however, was not affected and rushed forward to Tackle it again.

"Why Lunatone's attack affect him?" asked Lily.

"Because Poochyena's a Dark Type and Dark Types are immune to Psychic attacks," said May.

"Maybe that's why he's battling it," said Lily, "because his Dark Pokemon instincts are responding to Lunatone's Psychic Type."

Lunatone, seeing how its Confusion had no affect on Max responded with its own Tackle.

Max was buffeted back a few paces, but used Howl to boost his strength.

Then Lunatone's eyes shone blue again and nearby rocks floated into the air. When the rocks were over Max, they dropped down and hit him.

"That was Rock Slide," said Lily.

Max growled savagely and ran forward at Lunatone. Before it could get out of the way, Max used Bite on the Meteorite Pokemon. Lunatone struggled, his Rock Type nature having no defense against Max's Dark Type attack. That was somewhat surprising when you consider that Max was biting into meteoric rock-like skin. Max shook Lunatone from side to side before throwing him into a boulder. Lunatone struck the boulder hard and slid back down to the ground, its pupils a dazed spiral.

May ran over to Max and whacked him upside the head. "What were you thinking?!" she demanded, "We needed that Lunatone's dust to make the Moon Ball and you nearly pummel it to bits."

Max looked ashamed, "I'm sorry, May. I don't know what came over me. As soon as I recognized it as a Psychic Type, I just had to fight it." Suddenly his body tensed.

"Max?" said May, "What's wrong with you?"

"He's getting Experience Points from the battle," said Lily as she knelt beside Lunatone.

Max's body quivered a bit before it started to grow. His body grew taller and gained more muscle mass. His shoulders became broader to accommodate his larger chest and shoulder muscles, giving his torso a diamond shape. When he stopped, he was two heads taller than May and had noticeable muscle tone on his chest, arms, and legs. His hair has also lengthened until it was an inch lower than his shoulders. May felt slightly embarrassed to look at Max's furred form, now that he looked like he was probably his late high-school years.

Then Max lifted his head and sniffed the air. "Wow, my sense of smell as really gotten stronger," he said, his voice deeper than before.

"It looks like he just learned Odor Sleuth," said Lily as she was putting different ingredients together in a vial, "That means he's on Level 17 now. Lunatone must be on a higher level than we thought. We had better finish that Moon Ball tonight. We'll probably not get a chance tomorrow."

"What are you doing?" asked May.

"I'm making a Revive for Lunatone," said Lily, "Ingredients taken from unconscious Pokemon aren't nearly as affective as those taken from Pokemon that are at full health." She finished preparing her mixture in a vial and tiled its content onto Lunatone's beak. The potion glimmered on the Rock and Psychic Pokemon's skin before it sifted through the crack. A moment later, a green glow surrounded Lunatone before it faded. It opened its eyes and looked around. As soon as it saw Max, it floated upwards and headed away from him.

"No, wait!" called May. Lunatone paused in midair and looked back at May. "I'm sorry for what my brother did for you, but we need your help."

She quickly told it what had happened to them over the past few days, mentioning that they need dust from it to complete the Moon Ball. Max piped in that he didn't mean to hurt it, his Were-Poochyena instincts had taken over. Lunatone listened to them until they had finished. Then it floated over to Lily. Its red eyes started into hers for a while before it rocked its body up and down in a way that meant yes.

Lily quickly took out a file, a funnel, and a spare container. She put the funnel in the opened container and put it on the ground. She then ran the file along the roughest side of Lunatone, causing some dust to fall towards the ground, down the funnel, and into the jar. Lunatone didn't seem hurt by Lily's filing at all. If anything, it looked relaxed as Lily smoothed out its rough edge.

Lily stopped as soon as she had filled the jar. The Lunatone floated towards the river and looked at its reflection, apparently pleased by its smoother profile. It nodded in a friendly manner at the group and then floated away.

"I'm really sorry about that," said Max.

"It's not your fault," said May, "it's the curse that was making you do that. But now we need to find an Aconite Berry and that Mightyena so we can fix you."

"Unfortunately, I don't know where we can find either," said Lily, "The nearest Aconite plant I know of is near Blackthorn City."

Max looked thoughtful and asked, "Do you have a container that you normally keep Aconite Berries in?"

"Yes, but it's empty right now."

"Let me see it." Lily reached into her bag and pulled out a jar that had a label reading 'Aconite Berries'. Max lifted the lid of the jar and sniffed the insides. Once he got a scent, he used Odor Sleuth to check the surrounding area. "We're in luck," he said, "There's an Aconite plant west-by-southwest of here. Probably past the southern gate of Ecruteak City that May came through. We should be able to get there before midnight. Let's go." He quickly grabbed both girls and leapt over the stepping stones to the other side of the river. As the three of them started running, Blaziken having been returned to its Pokeball by then, May couldn't help but be amazed by Max's strength, and worried about its nature.

* * *

There's another chapter. The gang's cutting it real close. One more level-up and Max'll become a Mightyena forever. And you can guarantee that the Mightyena that bit Max won't give up its hair so easily. The final chapter will be coming Saturday on the 25th, so keep an eye out for it. Please review.


	7. The Confrontation

**Pokethropy**

**Chapter 7: The Confrontation**

It took the trio till midnight to get to where Max thought he smelled an Aconite plant. They stopped only once so the girls could catch their breaths. Max, however, was barely tired and could have run for a much longer distance. Lily took advantage of the rest to work on the Moon Ball. Using the ingredients she already had, she was able to transform the Yellow Apricorn into a standard-looking Moon Ball; except for the fact it had a piece of Everstone for the button and the rim was silver. However the actual spell for the Ball was still a potion in a bottle. Lily explained that once she had added the hair and the Berry juice to the potion, she'll be able to complete the enchantment for the Moon Ball.

As soon as the girls had their breaths back, they continued running southwest. They eventually went through the city gates May passed through and started heading in a more western direction. Max paused and sniffed the air again. He pricked his ears and said, "I think I smell something else."

"What is it?" asked May.

"I don't know, but it smells familiar. I'm not sure if we're not the only people here."

"Well, we're the only humans around here," said Lily, "although I'm not sure Max would count as a human. No offense."

"None taken," said Max, "but that doesn't make me feel any more secure."

They continued traveling until the moon was in the center of the sky. They had walked through the woods until they came upon a large clearing. Growing in the middle of the clearing was a sizeable tree, taller than the Apricorn trees. It had apparently been growing there for many years. Growing from the branches of the tree were purple berries that resembled folded umbrellas with a star-like shape near the stems. "Amazing," said Lily, "I've never seen an Aconite tree this old."

"Those are Aconite Berries?" asked May, "You think they would make good Pokeblocks?"

"Possibly, but they're very bitter, with a tinge of sweetness and sourness. And they're not good for humans to eat raw so don't think about tasting them yourself." Lily reached up and plucked an Aconite Berry. It was about as long as her hand. She opened the bottle and squeezed some juice from the berry into it. She swished the bottle until the potion inside turned purple. "Now all we need is that hair," she said.

Suddenly Max's ears twitched. He started staring in a certain direction and started growling. "What is it?" asked May. Her question was soon answered by the sound of howling throughout the woods. May and Lily stood still as several pairs of yellow and red eyes appeared in the darkness. Then several Mightyena walked into the clearing, every one of them growling savagely. May didn't need to be told twice that these Mightyena were cursed. "Why are they all here?" she whispered to Lily.

"I don't know," whispered Lily, "perhaps they knew we were going to free one of their new recruits and came to stop us."

"How could they possibly know?"

"There's a lot you shouldn't put past Pokemon, let alone cursed ones." She took her Pokeballs from her belt and said, "It looks like we'll have to fight our way out of this."

May grabbed hers and said, "I'm right behind you."

The two girls yelled "GO!" and threw their Pokeballs. In bright flashes of light, Blaziken, Ivysaur, Beautifly, Munchlax, Squirtle, Eevee, Honchkrow, and Mismagius appeared. The Pokemon quickly looked at their surroundings and entered battle poses.

"Okay team," said May, "do what you can to beat these Mightyena. They won't play by the rules, so don't expect any mercy."

"Same goes for you," said Lily.

The eight Pokemon nodded in agreement. Max was getting ready to fight too when May reminded him, "If you go up one more level without being cured, you'll become just like them." Max looked disappointed, but nodded in consent and reluctantly moved behind the group.

The battle that unfolded was a rather vicious one. The Mightyena were determined to get Max in their clutches, and were apparently trying to get May and Lily too. The girls' Pokemon fought hard to keep them at bay. Blaziken lead the counter-assault with its Fighting Type moves. Beautifly assisted with Silver Wind and using status-affecting attacks on the Mightyena. Ivysaur and Munchlax beat down as many Mightyena as they could. Squirtle and Eevee, the youngest of May's Pokemon, stayed closer to the back but still fought bravely. Mismagius' attacks wouldn't have much of an affect on the Mightyena, so it focused mainly on defending May and Lily with Honchkrow for backup. May and Lily had taken two large dead branches from the Aconite tree and were swatting at any Mighyena that got too close. They had a solid defense, but not one they could keep up forever.

Suddenly Max pointed and said, "May, that's it!" May looked and saw a Mightyena that was apparently leading the others. She saw the scar on the backside of its right ear and recognized it as the Mightyena that bit Max.

"If we can get a hair from it, we'll be able to cure you," she said.

"I'm getting it myself," said Max, "I've got a score to settle." He stepped out from behind May and Lily and jumped into the fray.

"Max! Don't!" called May. Blaziken noticed and quickly fought its way over to Max. Max was deliberately avoiding fighting with the Mightyena and was just trying to get over to the leader. Blaziken launched a Flamethrower that cleared enough Mightyena out of the way for Max to have a clear shot at the leader. Max quickly ran forward and punched it, grabbing some hair as he did so. He quickly handed it over to Blaziken, who leaped back over to May and Lily. Lily took the hair and put into the potion. She swirled the potion around and muttered magic words to herself.

The group was now focusing on protecting Lily while she completed the spell. Max would have headed back, but the Mightyena were preventing him from getting to close. He didn't want to fight, but it looked like his options were closing quickly. With Blaziken no longer at the front, the Mightyena were able to get in closer. Blaziken would have headed back towards the front, but it had to protect Lily.

Suddenly four Mightyena broke through and were rushing at the girls. Blaziken, Mismagius, and Honchkrow braced themselves to protect their trainers. Suddenly a black ball of energy and several rocks flew at the Mightyena and blasted them away. Lily and May looked up towards where the attacks came from and saw Gengar and Lunatone sitting in the tree. Gengar waved cheerily at them while Lunatone nodded courteously. "I guess you can find friends in the most unexpected times," said May.

Lily smiled but continued working on the spell. Finally, she poured the potion onto the Moon Ball and rubbed it all over. The Moon Ball stayed wet for only seven seconds before the potion apparently sank in. She handed the Ball over to May and said, "It's done. Throw that at Max and it'll put an end to all this."

May took the ball and looked for Max. She quickly spotted him surrounded by the Mightyena. Max didn't look like he wanted to fight back to prevent losing himself, he look genuinely afraid. In that instant, May saw her little brother for what he really was. It didn't matter that he had a Poochyena's fur, a 17-year old's body, or an athlete's muscle frame, May could see the scared little boy inside. That strengthened her confidence and she clinched her grip. "Moon Ball, go!" she called as she threw the enchanted Pokeball at Max.

Time seemed to stand still as the Moon Ball flew through the air. May and Lily's Pokemon watched as it soared by. Gengar and Lunatone's eyes watched it progress across the clearing. Even some of the Mightyena paused and wondered at it. The only who didn't notice it was Max and the Mightyena surrounding him. But then Max looked up and saw the Moon Ball heading towards him. He smiled as the Ball finally reached its destination. He winced in pain as it struck him on the forehead, he didn't expect it to hurt that much. But then the Moon Ball opened and Max's body seemingly converted into yellow light. Then the yellow light was sucked into the Ball and it closed. It fell to the ground where it rattled. Everyone watched the Moon Ball with anticipation. Finally, it stopped struggling and stayed still.

The gang's moment of triumph was short-lived because the Mightyena were attacking ever more ferociously. Apparently, they were angry that they had captured one of their own and now were trying to destroy them. Blaziken took back its position at the front of the line, but even it was having trouble keeping back the Mightyena pack.

Then May noticed that some of the Mightyena were trying to break open the Moon Ball. "We have to get that Moon Ball back!" she called. Ivysaur heard her and extended several vines that weaved and smashed aside Mightyena until they grabbed the Ball. Ivysaur was trying to reel it back, but another Mightyena swatted it away. Munchlax saw it and jumped surprisingly high into the air. The Moon Ball flew over to him and he bounced it back with his round belly. Squirtle then used a combination of Water Gun and Ice Beam to create a slide for the Moon Ball to roll down. Beautifly caught the Ball after it slid down the ramp and brought it over to May. May took it back and said, "Thanks."

She held the ball close to her and thought, 'Don't worry Max, we'll get out of this.'

'That sounds comforting,' said a voice in May's head sarcastically.

May jumped and thought, 'Was that Max I just heard?'

'Yes it was me. As long as I'm in the Moon Ball and you're holding me, we can hear each other's thoughts apparently.'

'Oh, what's it like in there?'

'Sorta like being in a bubble except I can't pop it and everything looks bigger to me. But I need to get out of here. If I beat the head Mightyena, the rest will quit.'

'How can you be sure of that?'

'I'm not. Call it a Were-Pokemon instinct. If you don't let me out, we're eventually going to get overrun.'

May hesitated, but she knew Max was right. As valiantly as hers and Lily's Pokemon were fighting along with Gengar and Lunatone, she knew they couldn't keep it up for long. 'I hope you what you're doing,' thought May.

'You and me both.'

May held up the Moon Ball and said, "Max, come on out!" The Pokeball opened and Max appeared in a flash of white light. The Mightyena growled at him, apparently thinking him as a traitor. Max barked at them and they paused. Then the leader of the Poochyena, the one that bit Max, stepped forward. The two of them glared at each other for a minute before they both lunged at each other. While Max had the advantage of size and hands, the Mightyena had much more experience.

The Mightyena quickly beat Max down to the ground. May and Lily couldn't understand what it was saying, but they knew what it was telling Max. "Give up, young one. I have been battling others ever since I became a Mightyena. You could not possibly hope to defeat me. Why would you wish to defeat me at all? We are the bearers of a great power: the power of darkness. Don't fight the darkness, embrace it, become part of the darkness."

"Don't listen to him, Max!" called May, "You are not like him. He doesn't have friends and family who care for him. He's not part of the darkness, he's controlled by it. Don't let the darkness control you. You can control the darkness. You can control yourself!"

Max stood up again and said, "My sister's right. I don't need darkness for strength and power. My strength comes from my friends and my power comes from my family. And that's something you can never outmatch."

Suddenly darkness began to gather in Max's hands. In a few seconds, it looked like he was wearing the blackest gloves in the world. Then he ran forward at the Mightyena and punched it the jaw. "That's Shadow Punch!" said May.

Then the darkness around his fingers extended into sharp claws that he swiped at the Mightyena with. "And that's Shadow Claw!" said Lily.

Then Max brought his hands together and the darkness came off and gathered into a ball. "And that's Shadow Ball!" said the girls. Max hurled the ball at the Mightyena, which was blasted off its feet. The Mightyena fell to the ground, knocked out by the blast. The other Mightyena looked at the Were-Poochyena that defeated their leader and ran off, taking the Mightyena Max defeated with them.

"You did it, Max!" cheered May. The rest of the group applauded. Even Gengar and Lunatone smiled in admiration. Suddenly Max winced and his body became covered in white light. "Oh no," said May as she recognized that glow; the same glow a Pokemon generates when it evolves. Max grew slightly taller and his muscle frame expanded even more. His tail also grew and became bushier. When the light faded, May was left looking at a 7'4" anthropomorphic Mightyena with a muscle build like the people on Muscle Island and a mane of long black-blue hair going down his back.

May could not keep herself from crying. The brother she had worked so hard to protect had become a monster and lost all of his humanity. Her crying continued until she heard a voice say, "May, why are you crying?" She looked up and saw that Max was looking down at her. His eyes, though still yellow and red, held the same kind and knowledgeable look she's always known.

"Max, you're still yourself?" asked May.

"Of course I am, May. On the inside, that is. My Pokemon side, however, has changed quite a bit."

"But I thought the Moon Ball would cure you," said May.

"Actually, that's not quite right," said Lily as she looked in her book, "What I said was the Ball would conquer the curse. Now Max has complete control over his curse, to the point of changing back whenever he chooses. But I'm afraid there's no known way of completely removing the curse."

"Well as long as I can control this, I don't think I need to worry," said Max. He focused for a minute and he shifted back to his human form. Unfortunately, it was the human form he would look like if his age were still tied to the curse. He kept the muscles and hair from his Mightyena form, but his height diminished back to a more normal 6'7". However, since he didn't have a stitch of clothing on, it was a rather embarrassing moment for all of them. May and Lily quickly covered their eyes until Max could find a way to become his regular age again. From the brief glimpse May had seen, Max's older human form was a very handsome and quite sexy young man, but she would die before admitting that.

Fortunately, May had brought some of Max's spare clothing in her backpack and quickly handed it over to him. As soon as he was decent, May and Lily uncovered their eyes. Max now looked like he always did, except something in his eyes showed a slight hint of his hidden feral nature. May handed over the Moon Ball to him and said, "This belongs to you. I know it's not exactly how you wanted your first Pokeball, but I think that is should be yours more than anyone's."

Max nodded and put the Ball on his belt. "I should make a necklace out of this," he said, "It would look cool when I'm grown up."

"Now as for that, I think we should put some limits there. But first you'd need clothes to wear to use it in the first place."

Lily turned her attention to Gengar and Lunatone and said, "Thank you so much for your help. We wouldn't have been able to do this without you." Lunatone nodded in reply. Gengar tried to look aloof, but he radiated a prideful smugness. "I guess you two should be heading off now to your homes." Gengar and Lunatone looked at each other and then shook their heads; or bodies as the case may be. "No? Does that mean you want to come with me?" The two of them nodded. "That's great! I always wanted a Psychic Type on my team and I could use some extra muscle as well."

"Hey, look! The sun's coming up!" said Max. As the sunlight peeped over the horizon and onto the group, they knew the ordeal was over. But a new adventure was soon to begin.

* * *

And there's the final chapter. I had a fun time writing this, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do a sequel for this. If someone else wants to take over from this, that'd be find by me if they ask permission first. I also had an idea for a Pokemon parody of the Lion King, but I doubt that I'll have enough time to this. So if someone is interested in doing that, contact me. I hope you've all enjoyed this story.

Happy Halloween


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